


Friday Night Lights

by acciocliffo



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: 5 Seconds of Summer - Freeform, AU, High School, M/M, Marching Band, Marching Band AU, malum
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-08-18 07:08:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8153357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acciocliffo/pseuds/acciocliffo
Summary: Michael Clifford is the trumpet section leader of the Carnegie High School marching band, but there's someone who might take his place.  A new kid comes to town from their rivals, North Village High School. And Michael has to deal with some new found feelings for his best friend.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I should probably explain marching band to people who might not know exactly what it is? Basically I'm using my band experience to write this and I'm modeling everything after how my marching band works. So it's a traditional style marching band that lifts their knees to march and they don't roll step. They have sections of instruments (trumpets, flutes, clarinets, drumline, etc) and then groups of four people of the same section (squads) that do the same movements on the field. I guess this is an American AU since I'm not sure about international marching bands and I only have experience with how American marching band works.

Michael wanted nothing more than to not go to band practice today. He had been up until two in the morning last night doing summer homework he procrastinated on, went to the first day of school, and now had to suffer through two more hours of marching band. He was tired and in no shape to march properly in this state. Not to mention he was in no mood to deal with Luke, the kid who was always trying to take away his first chair status. 

He walked into the band room where approximately 150 other kids were getting ready for the day’s rehearsal. Some were filling water bottles, headed to the bathroom to change into shorts, or warming up. Michael had no patience for any of this. He just got his trumpet, tuned it, and headed to the field. 

He didn’t need his music; he had it all memorized by now. 

“Hey, Michael!”

No.

“Michael! Wait up!”

Please, God, no. Not today.

Michael turned around to see Luke Hemmings, the overachiever, the “prodigy” trumpet player, the one everyone says is going to be section leader next year, running after him with his music flying all over the place. 

“What do you want, Hemmings?” Michael asked.

“I just wanted to know if you knew what songs we were doing today,” Luke said.

“It’s written on the board.”

Michael turned back to keep walking, but Luke grabbed his arm. “I know, but I meant, like, what parts?”

Michael sighed. “If you mean what part you’re playing, Luke, you should know. You’re playing second because this is your first year. I don’t care how many people tell me how gifted you are, you’re playing second until you’re an upperclassmen. That’s how it works.”

He stayed long enough to see Luke’s face fall before turning back to continue to the practice field. He regretted it. 

Michael was the first person on the field except for their director. He laid down in the turf and closed his eyes, focusing on how the sun pressed on him like an invisible heated blanket. He just wanted this day to end so he could nap.

“You okay, Mr. Clifford?”

He opened his eyes to see Mr. Wilhelm standing above him. He wasn’t old, but he was definitely started to go bald. He wasn’t even thirty, but Mr. Wilhelm had a little patch on his head where you could see it was thinning out.

Michael stood up and said, “Just a little tired. Didn’t sleep well, too excited for rehearsal today.”

The director laughed. “You sure know how to flatter, Michael. How’s your section learning their music? I know the tunes are a bit difficult, but I think we can handle it.”

“Oh yeah, everyone’s doing great. We might have to do some sectionals for the harder parts, but I think it’s gonna be a great season.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Mr. Wilhelm said.

With that, more students started coming up from the building to the field, so Michael headed to his starting position for their opener, waiting for his squad. His squad consisted of three other first trumpets: Elliott, Dan, and Shay. Eventually they got into their positions and organized their music.

Elliott looked over at Michael and said, “Hey, did you know there’s a new kid?”

“What?”

“Yeah, some drumline dude. From  _ North Village  _ High School.” Their rival school.

“Shit. What’s his name?”

“No clue. I think Wilhelm’s gonna introduce him, though.”

A transfer? From North Village? They have been their rival’s for years. North Village and Carnegie High School are the only bands that still march traditional style, so that perpetuates the rivalry. Michael wasn’t sure if he could trust this new guy. But maybe his parents just moved and he had no choice. Then again, he could also be a spy if he still has friends from North Village.

As if he could read Michael’s thoughts, Mr. Wilhelm climbed the ladder he directs from and said, “Hey guys, before we get started today, I’d like to introduce you to our newest member, Ashton Irwin. He’s going to be in drumline.” A few claps from the drumline members, probably their section leaders. “He’s coming from North Village and I don’t want any drama starting, hear me? I know there’s some feud, but now he’s one of us and will be treated as such.”

Yeah, right. He’ll be lucky if anyone even talks to him. 

Practice started and they ran through their first show. It consisted of four songs; their opener, two other songs, and then their closing song that they did for every show. Since they had their first game of the season on Friday, Mr. Wilhelm drilled them pretty hard. 

Michael wanted to die.

His legs felt like they were going to collapse, and his lips were starting to die. He wasn’t sure if he could continue playing.

Summer band camp had prepared them pretty well for the first game, but they had to be perfect. Their school has a reputation of being the best high school marching band and they intended on keeping it that way.

And Michael had to prove that he was fit to be section leader, especially if he wanted to be student director next year. 

After about forty-five minutes of rehearsing, their director finally let them have a break. Michael slowly walked over to the sidelines to get a drink out of his water bottle. He glanced over to the drumline section and figured that they were having this Ashton guy march along with them to learn the basic formations, since he hasn’t been assigned what he’s going to play. 

Michael wasn’t sure what to make of the guy. He was reasonably tall with sandy blond hair. From what Michael could tell, he had fairly long fingers. Typical drummers. He seemed to be excited about being in their band, but Michael wasn’t sure. Maybe he’d talk to him and try to get a feel for him. 

Then Michael looked around and saw Luke sitting by himself. 

_ Goddammit,  _ he thought.  _ Now I gotta go over and make sure he’s alright. _

He got up and walked over to where Luke was sitting. Michael’s eyes met his blue ones and Luke immediately looked away. 

“Come on, Luke. I’m sorry for what I said earlier. I’m not having the best day and you just ticked me off a bit. I shouldn’t have snapped the way I did,” Michael apologized.

“Fine. But you have to stop treating me like some little kid. I know that I’m new, but I’m not a child. I’m a sophomore, you’re a junior. There isn’t that much of a difference.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” He meant it. The kid was too talented to isolate him.

Then their director called them back for more reps of the show. They spent another half hour running it, but thankfully they were let out fifteen minutes early. Michael breathed a sigh of relief, he could finally go home and nap. 

“All section leaders must stay for a little meeting,” his director said.

“Fuck,” Michael swore under his breath. 

Mr. Wilhelm just dragged on about how they had to keep up with rehearsals and learning their drill and music while Michael fought to stay awake. Then, he caught eyes with his best friend, Calum Hood. Resident badass with tattoos and tuba section leader. Calum winked at him, probably because he noticed Michael dozing off. Finally, their director let them go, and Michael would’ve ran to his car if he had the energy. Instead he put his trumpet away and waited for Calum to catch up.

Calum ran up to Michael, who was waiting outside the front doors of the school, and slapped his shoulder. 

“Did you even get any sleep last night, man?”

“Roughly four hours,” he shrugged.

“Mike, you gotta get to bed earlier.”

“It’s not my fault insomnia owns my ass. And I had to finish those fucking vocab words for Brit Lit. Who even assigns summer homework in a regular level class?”

Calum laughed as they made their way to Michael’s car. 

Ever since Michael got his license, he’s been driving Calum home from practice every day. It helps that they live on the same street. That’s how they first met. On the first day of kindergarten while waiting at the bus stop. Michael’s mom and Calum’s mom got talking and so did their kids. They’ve been inseparable since then.

Michael started driving while Calum put on some music. Green Day was their favorite drive home band to listen to. It was tradition.

Michael couldn’t help but look over at Calum every time they were at a red light or a stop sign. He couldn’t help but notice the way Calum’s dark hair met with his brown skin, the way he had a slight lisp when he sang along to the stereo, or the way he closed his eyes too.

Michael lied when he said he got four hours of sleep last night. 

It was true that he stayed up doing homework, but after that he was restless. 

He couldn’t stop thinking about his best friend and what had happened the night before.

Michael couldn’t stop thinking about how he was in love Calum Hood. 


	2. The Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael recounts what happened the Saturday night before the first day of school.

The Saturday before the first day of school some senior in marching band was having a party, and Calum made Michael go. Mainly because Michael was the one with a car. Calum really wanted to go because he heard that some girl he liked was rumored to be going. Michael only agreed because his mom always nags him to get out and socialize. 

They drove up to the house and noticed that it was packed. There were cars lined up and down the street, not to mention how teenagers were piling into the house.   
Michael turned to Calum and said, “Are you sure you want to go?”

“Yes, Michael, Erica is going to be there! I have to talk to her before some other douche does,” Calum said.

Michael just rolled his eyes and sighed, but still followed his friend inside. They paid the two dollars to get in (and received a solo cup of beer). There were too many people here for Michael’s liking. It wasn’t too cramped, but there were definitely more people in the house than intended. Especially since they were all drinking. He kept following Calum, sliding past people trying to make it to the kitchen. Hopefully there was food.

Then, someone grabbed Calum’s arm. Lo and behold it was Erica.

“Calum! I’m so glad you’re here. I hardly know anyone here. Oh, hey Michael,” Erica said, finally noticing Calum wasn’t alone.

Michael didn’t like Erica. She and Calum met at the end of last year and have been hanging out over the summer. A lot. It wasn’t that Michael was jealous, but without Calum, Michael didn’t really have any other friends. She was pretty, long blonde hair and stereotypically blue eyes, but her personality was flat. Michael didn’t know what Calum saw in her. Probably just because she had nice boobs.

Michael nodded hello and proceeded to the kitchen, leaving Calum and Erica to talk alone. Luckily for Michael someone had brought buffalo chicken dip, so he went to town. He made himself a plate and went to find somewhere relatively quiet to sit. Michael weaved through the crowd of drunk teenagers and stumbled upon a second living room where there weren’t many people. He sat down in a chair with his chips and dip and pulled out his phone. 

In the midst of scrolling for what felt like forever but had only been maybe an hour, Michael felt a hand on his shoulder. Startled he turned around and found Calum.

“Dude, I’ve been looking for you forever,” said Calum.

“I’ve just been in here,” Michael replied. 

Calum rolled his eyes and continued talking. “Okay, look I was talking to Erica and everything was going great. We were having a great time, and I thought the moment was right, so I tried to kiss her. But then she’s like ‘Calum, I’m gay’ and I was like, ‘What.’ Then she said, ‘Yeah, I thought you knew.’ Like how the fuck would I know she’s gay? She’s never mentioned it. And now I’m having a crisis.”

“Shit dude. That sucks.”

“Yeah, it fucking sucks. What am I supposed to do now?”

Michael wasn’t sure what Calum wanted him to say. “I guess you get over it?”

“Why are you never any help…” Calum said frustrated. 

“Fuck, I’m sorry, okay? Do you just want to get drunk?” Michael suggested.

Calum’s eyes lit up, and they made their way to the kitchen to get some riot punch. After chugging their first glass and immediately getting another, they were already pretty tipsy. Somehow the two ended up outside on the back porch where no one was. Everyone was either in the kitchen, living room, or the upstairs. The host had a porch swing, so naturally they drunkenly swung together, trying to get as high as they could. 

They made it pretty high before the swing made a weird noise, and the boys stopped and started laughing. Calum said, “I’m glad you’re my best friend, Michael. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Surprised, Michael just looked at him. In his hazy state, Calum looked special in the moonlight. Maybe it was the alcohol, or the dying summer air, but something tugged in Michael’s stomach at this moment. Calum’s skin seemed to glow, his eyes were so warm and brown, and they glittered with the reflection of the moon. Michael couldn’t help himself.

He leaned over and kissed Calum, full on the mouth.

Even more surprising, Calum kissed him back. Soon enough their cups were thrown on the ground, easily forgotten, and they were kissing each other roughly, hands in the other’s hair, pulling and tugging. Calum’s lips on Michael’s were so soft, Michael couldn’t get enough. He hesitantly slid his tongue into Calum’s mouth, completely expecting him to pull away, but he didn’t. Calum   
joined Michael and soon their tongues were fully engaged with each other. 

Then Calum’s hand left Michael’s hair and slid down Michael’s torso stopping at his crotch. He pulled away from Michael’s mouth and said, “Is this okay?” Michael just nodded in response, he was too drunk and in shock to say anything. Calum continued, while Michael felt like his body was ascending to the heavens.

They woke up in the morning huddled together on that porch swing. They said nothing to each other as they gathered themselves and headed out to Michael’s car. The silence was killing Michael, but he had no idea what to say. He hadn’t been drunk enough to not remember what happened, but he wasn’t sure if he was happy about that or not. When the reached the car Calum broke the silence.

“Do you want to get breakfast?” he asked.

“Uh, sure,” Michael said.

They went to their favorite diner in town. It was a little diner owned by a guy and his wife, but they had the best pancakes. Michael, however, only ordered coffee. He wasn’t sure how his stomach would handle food right now. Calum ordered coffee and a stack of pancakes. Their coffee came quickly and Calum started talking, like always.

“Listen, last night was…”

“It’s okay if we don’t talk about it,” Michael interrupted.

“No, we should talk about it. We were both drunk, and I was upset over Erica, so it didn’t mean anything. Right?”

Michael wasn’t sure. He knew something had changed. He didn’t know if it made him gay or what, but he definitely felt something different about Calum. But he wasn’t about to admit that.

“Right, totally. I was thinking the same thing.” 

That whole day Michael wrestled with what happened the night before. He didn’t know what any of it meant until Calum texted him, “I still had fun last night though,” and Michael realized that he for sure had feelings for his best friend.

So, now, as he dropped Calum off at his house, Michael wondered how in the hell he was going to deal with his feelings. How he was either supposed to forget Calum giving him the best blowjob of his life, or come clean to Calum and tell him that he lied. It was going to be an interesting school year, that’s for sure.


End file.
